Dairy Protien Rich Diet for NAFLD Patients

NCT ID: NCT04841915

Last Updated: 2025-04-01

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

46 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-03-15

Study Completion Date

2023-12-01

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The overarching aim of this project is to investigate effects of dietary interventions on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) severity and to delineate the relationship with improvements in metabolic aberrations in liver-, fat- and muscle tissue, using a panel of state-of-the art techniques.

The investigators will conduct a randomized clinical trial with three arms to investigate if micellar cassein isolate and whey protein supplementation as part of a high-protein diet during 4 weeks of weight maintenance and 20 weeks of hypocaloric intake (30% energy restriction) inducing modest weight loss (5% of baseline weight) has beneficial effects on NAFLD severity and metabolic aberrations compared to normal diet in NAFLD patients.

It is hypothesized that: (i) a high-protein diet improves liver disease severity and metabolic function compared to a normal protein diet; (ii) Cassein provides greater benefits than whey; and(iii) these effects manifest during both weight maintenance and weight loss.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

To test the hypothesis, state-of-the-art techniques for a comprehensive assessment of liver disease severity and metabolic function will be employed. NAFLD severity and treatment effects will be evaluated on the basis of liver fat content (MR spectroscopy), liver enzymes, liver-specific inflammation and fibrosis markers and fibrosis (fibroscan). Metabolic function will be investigated by basal and insulin mediated whole-body glucose, fatty acid and VLDL-TG turnover, postprandial insulin secretion and clearance (mixed meal test in conjunction with oral minimal modeling). Body composition (total fat mass, leg fat and fat free mass) will be assessed by DEXA-scanning; visceral and upper-body subcutaneous fat by MR-imaging, and fat content of skeletal muscle and liver by MR-spectroscopy. All outcomes will be assessed at baseline, after 4 wk on a eucaloric diet (weight maintenance), and after an additional 20 wk on a hypocaloric diet (5% weight loss), in 54 patients with NAFLD and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2) but without diabetes. Subjects will be block randomized to one of three treatment groups (WPI, MCI, or standard diet, n=18 in each group). A biobank of serum/plasma/DNA including fat and skeletal muscle biopsies will be established for mechanistic analysis in a planned future work-package. Patient related outcomes will include specific questionnaires (CLDQ-NAFLD, SF-36).

All subjects will be phone-contacted on a regular basis by study personnel to monitor progress, resolve problems with the diets, and reinforce compliance; and meet in person with the study dietitians weekly during the weight maintenance phase and biweekly during the weight loss phase to have their body weight measured and receive dietary counselling. Before study initiation, the research teams will put together standardized procedures for patient contact and nutrition counselling, including creating nutrition information leaflets specific to each randomization arm, to ensure uniformity between the study centers. In practice, dietary guidance will be tailored to the individual patient to ensure weight maintenance within 2% of baseline body weight during the first phase (weight stability), and a weight loss of 0.25% per week to reach the target 5% weight loss after 20 weeks during the second phase (weight loss); energy intake will be adjusted as necessary by adding or removing carbohydrate to meet the desired goals. Three-day diet records will be collected before and every 2 weeks during the interventions to evaluate energy and macronutrient intakes. A 3-hour urine sample will be collected during the mixed meal test at baseline, after 4 and 24 weeks in order to monitor dietary protein intake. Participants will be instructed in how to do the sampling and storing the sample cool during the collection.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Metabolic Syndrome Caseins Whey Diet, High Protein Weight Loss Lipoproteins, VLDL

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Investigators
The participants will be randomized to one of 3 treatment arms. Protein interventions (MCI and WPI) will be blinded to participants and investigators, but controls with regular diet will not be blinded.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Micellar Cassein Isolate High-Protein Diet

4weeks eucaloric intake on high-protein diet with micellar cassein as primary protein source followed by 20weeks hypocaloric intake on equivalent protein rich diet.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

High-Protein Diet

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Diet consisting of 25E% from assigned protein during eucaloric diet and 35E% from assigned protein during hypocaloric diet

Clinical dietician

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Counselling from a clinical dietician bi-weekly until weight loss of 5% is achieved.

Weight loss

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

4 weeks eucaloric diet \~13 MJ/day followed by, 20 weeks hypocaloric diet \~9 MJ/day until 5% weight loss is achieved.

Whey Protein High-Protein Diet

4weeks eucaloric intake on high-protein diet with whey protein as primary protein source followed by 20weeks hypocaloric intake on equivalent protein rich diet.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

High-Protein Diet

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Diet consisting of 25E% from assigned protein during eucaloric diet and 35E% from assigned protein during hypocaloric diet

Clinical dietician

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Counselling from a clinical dietician bi-weekly until weight loss of 5% is achieved.

Weight loss

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

4 weeks eucaloric diet \~13 MJ/day followed by, 20 weeks hypocaloric diet \~9 MJ/day until 5% weight loss is achieved.

Normal Diet

4weeks eucaloric diet with normal protein content (15E%) followed by 20weeks hypocaloric intake on equivalent diet.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Clinical dietician

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Counselling from a clinical dietician bi-weekly until weight loss of 5% is achieved.

Weight loss

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

4 weeks eucaloric diet \~13 MJ/day followed by, 20 weeks hypocaloric diet \~9 MJ/day until 5% weight loss is achieved.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

High-Protein Diet

Diet consisting of 25E% from assigned protein during eucaloric diet and 35E% from assigned protein during hypocaloric diet

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Clinical dietician

Counselling from a clinical dietician bi-weekly until weight loss of 5% is achieved.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Weight loss

4 weeks eucaloric diet \~13 MJ/day followed by, 20 weeks hypocaloric diet \~9 MJ/day until 5% weight loss is achieved.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m2
* HbA1C \< 48 mmol/mol
* Written informed consent
* Liver steatosis \> 10% on MR-spectroscopy
* Premenopausal women will have a negative pregnancy test drawn within 48 hours before the study.

Exclusion Criteria

* Other chronic liver diseases (HBV, HCV, AIH, PBC, PSC, alcoholic steatosis)
* Known systemic disease exempting hypertension and dyslipidemia.
* Former or active malignant disease
* Alcohol consumption \>2 drinks/day for men, 1 drink/day for women, evaluated by AUDIT-C
* Pregnancy
* Any medications including non-prescription medications exempting, birth control medications, antihypertensives and statins. Participants taking statins can participate on the condition of a 2 week pause before the experimental days.
* Estimated glomerular filtration rate \<90 ml/min
* Currently smoking
* Blood donation within the last 3 months
* Weight above 130 kg
* Participated in trials using radioactive isotopes within the last 6 months
Minimum Eligible Age

25 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

70 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Arla Foods

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Copenhagen

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Hvidovre University Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of Aarhus

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Henning Grønbæk, Prof.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Aarhus

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Aarhus University Hospital, Dept. Hepatology and Gastroenterology

Aarhus N, , Denmark

Site Status

Hvidovre Hospital

Hvidovre, , Denmark

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Denmark

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

DAIPRO-NAFLD

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.